Wednesday, February 1, 2017

This blog was originally posted nearly fouryears ago. It received more response andcomment than any other blog I've everposted. In this time of political chaos, Ithought it merited a reposting.

I’m proud I’m an American! Please understand that. America is a great nation which provides enormous opportunities for people. But, it is all so much more complicated than that and it is foolish not to wrestle with the many complexities.by Charlie Leck

The wonders of being an American were, sort of, drummed into us as elementary school youngsters. We learned the pledge and how important it was to be reverent about saying it as we saluted THE flag. We were also taught to sing the national anthem with a sense of reverence. And, from the earliest grades in school, it was also hammered into us that America is the greatest nation on earth and its constitution the single most important document in the world’s vast history.

There was no room for debate or dissent about this!

And now, in these latter years and in the quiet, protective surroundings of my home, I allow myself to think about these “indisputable matters” and wonder…

What makes America so great?In what areas may we have failed?

There is no doubt about this: the Constitution of the United States of America is an extraordinary document – complex (and sometimes mysterious) and wonderful in its promises. However, the goals of the great constitution are, perhaps, more clearly defined in our nation’s original Declaration of Independence from the control of the British Empire… (as here related in Thomas Jefferson’s original draft…

“We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable; that all men are created equal and independent, that from that equal creation they derive rights inherent and inalienable; among which are the preservation of life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

The promises that America made to itself are extraordinary and beautiful and nearly reverent. Let there be no doubt about that. They are also immense, full of depth and nearly undeliverable. That’s what I am thinking on this remarkably beautiful morning here in this spectacular setting that I call my home.

I find myself wishing that Tom Jefferson was sitting here with me in this remarkable place, looking with me at the rising of the sun in the eastern sky. I would urge upon him a cup of my remarkable coffee and, after he has had a sip or two and we have chatted about minor matters, I would ask him: “What has gone wrong?”

His head would tilt only slightly to the side and he would squint in that manner, so known to us all, and ask me the inevitable question.

“What in heaven’s name do you mean?”

“This chart,” I would begin as I unfold it for him, and then stutter onward, “what does it mean and how did it happen?”

He would rock forward a bit from my favorite chair in which he now sits; and he would take the document from me. It is actually a survey from the respected Pew Research Center. As he glances at it, I would continue on.

Jefferson is so brilliant. His eyes fly over the information. Nearly one-fourth of the nation’s population has said that it has trouble putting food on their tables. I could compare these figures for him with those of many other nations that have far less problem feeding their people. I’m aware that I don’t need to. It is irrelevant. We are talking about America.

Nevertheless, I want to scream out: “How the fuck can you pursue happiness when you are hungry and can’t feed your family?”

Again, I know I need not; for we are talking about America and the question is so blatantly obvious to him.

Jefferson was able to quickly examine the data. His eyes rise up from the printed document and look into mine. They are brilliant, clear and remarkable eyes.

“It was, of course,” he says slowly and with careful consideration in reference to his sacred and undeniable truths, “only a promise, you know. And by promise I do not mean a certain guaranty, but something achievable and attainable. These goals must be achieved, maintained and guarded with great respect.”

I nod, respectfully, and see a certain firmness of will and wisdom in his eyes. They are locked on me and I realize they are expecting difficult questions.

I point out through the big glass doors to the east and then open my hand and wave it across the remarkable, blue sky that is visible above the tall, tall trees.

“There is so much wealth and comfort,” I stutter out and seek the simple, but wisest words, “and yet there is so much poverty and need. Is the great promise only for the swiftest and strongest among us?”

He does not quickly reply. He shows his respect for my question and appears to ponder it.

“The stability of any great society is dependent upon the health and happiness of its people,” he says very slowly. “Any great nation of people will make it possible for its entire people to pursue that which is their natural, God-given right. And that is, of course, the freedom to pursue life and liberty. It is incumbent upon all the people of the land to make sure that it does not become impossible for certain of its people to continue in that pursuit.”

I am intrigued with how slowly, thoughtfully and clearly he speaks. I sit, transfixed, and continue listening to him.

“A hungry man,” he says, “and, by this, of course, you must know after all this time, I mean woman as well, cannot pursue with full measure any of these desirable and undeniable rights. That income and wealth would not be fairly and justly distributed we never imagined. An even and classless society is not a possible dream and it is not a part of the promise. It is only just, however, that every man be given an equal and fair opportunity to achieve such levels of success.”

We sipped more coffee and nibbled on the fresh strawberries contained in the large bowl I’d put upon my desk; and we talked more about the promises and guarantees of the Constitution and the manner in which it had been interpreted by various Supreme Courts and its justices over the years.

The end of slavery did not surprise him. He knew the institution was not intellectually justifiable. There was an identifiable tone of apology in his voice as we chatted about the subject. He had not seen his own slaves as prisoners and property. He was startled, however, that it had taken such a costly and painful war to settle the issue when the courts could have so simply and constitutionally settled it long before the first shots were fired.

“It has been one of America’s great failings,” he said quite directly, “to respond to issues of difficulty with the call to war. Perhaps it has something to do with manner in which we were born; that is, being withdrawn from the womb in the midst of war and agony. Yet, with all that set aside, it is time for this nation and its leaders to grow out of that childish manner of response to every alarm. War must always stand down to the opportunities for honorable peace. Men of great patience will be peacemakers always.”

The sun continued to rise as we rocked in our chairs. It was a brilliant and peaceful morning. Through the screen door, we could hear the songs of the various species of birds.

“Forbearance” was an important word for Jefferson and he used it and its synonyms regularly.

“All men of a great nation,” he said so many times and in so many different ways, “must have the forbearance to work for peace and liberty. It is difficult to secure lasting freedom through war; for war breeds more war; and most treaties of peace are forced upon the unvictorious and not graciousy accepted by them. Temperance should be the attitude of those in Congress when they consider acts of war. By that I mean that self-control and longanimity are mandatory in the character of those who lead a great nation.”

To stretch, after a time sitting in our rocking chairs, the lithe and handsome man rose and wandered among the books in my library. He pointed to one of the green bound books from the Harvard selections.

“De Officiis was one of my favorite books,” he said. He was referring to the classic written by Cicero in the last year of his life. “It is about the duties of a leader of the government – On Duties – and there is some important wisdom in it.”

On Duties (or On Obligations) is a short work. I had read it once upon a time, but I didn’t remember much of it; but Jefferson’s memory was sharp and accurate.

“No man can be brave who considers pleasure the highest good!” Jefferson recited the line to me first in English and then followed it up with the Latin. Of course, I understood only the former and perhaps did not even understand that fully.

“And he further wrote,” said Jefferson with some dramatic flourish, “We are not born, we do not live for our ourselves alone; our country, our friends, have a share in us.”

He took the volume from the shelf and admired the binding and the type set within it.

“Such a proclivity for books the world has now. And how beautifully they are printed and bound; but does the world read them and understand?”

I nodded and remained silent as he shook his head in wonder.

“Cedant arma togae concedat laurea laudi,” he said in Latin. He saw me looking quizzically at him. He appeared disappointed that I did not understand.

“Let arms yield to the toga,” he said in interpretation, “and the laurel defer to praise.”

He looked at me, searching. I did not reveal any understanding.

“To the orator’s tongue,” he said with some lack of patience. “Let arms yield to the orator’s tongue!”

I nodded very slightly, but enough that he could see my assent and agreement.

“America is too quick to war! It must learn to seek out those who will speak willingly and openly about their grievances and how they might be addressed and redressed.”

The brilliant man slipped the book back in its place and returned to where I stood nearly frozen by his manner and brilliance.

“I must go now,” he said as he offered me his hand, “but you must continue to beg America to be a more patient and caring land. Never has anyone taken advantage of a land’s wealth as Americans have here in this bounteous land; but you and your fellows have missed the vastly more important opportunities to lead the world toward peace and prosperity for all. Being a great nation is no longer important. The goal has somewhat been achieved and is no longer relevant. Now the goal before you is the great peace and prosperity of the world. My goodness! You have the means to communicate instantly with fellow humans everywhere on an instantaneous basis. We never dreamed it in our most visionary moments. You can travel to nearly any spot on the globe in a matter of hours and not months and months. With such opportunities, men should become fellow citizens and not distrusted enemies. America’s greatness is only the beginning of the dream and not its end. It can happen; though it will not come about easily and without sacrifice and compromise. Imagine it, however! Think of it! A world of nations and peoples cooperating so that, truly, all men may have the right to freely pursue life, liberty and happiness.”

He turned and left me there.

“What had he said?” I stood there, asking myself. Was it that the American dream, though not completely fulfilled, had to be bigger now?

Had he said that the American dream could not fulfill itself until it was also the dream of every land and every people? Certainly he had said the dream of man’s equality had not yet been fulfilled even in America; yet it was time to move on and install the hope and the dream in every land and in every place.

I had returned to my desk and sat looking out at the wide, blue and totally free sky above. What had been such a vast world to Jefferson was now so intimate and small and I felt as if I could see it all.

_________________________________________________

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Thursday, December 29, 2016

Granted! I haven’t written for weeks. I’ve been in recovery –
that is, trying to recover from the shocking election of Donald Trump as POTUS.
by Charlie Leck

Under close observation, I’ve been doing a lot of doodling
and drawing, foaming at the mouth, trembling and carefully studying the
promises he made!

It’s not been easy – these eight weeks since the election. I’ve
actually been with adult groups who just held hands and cried. We talked
seriously about how we were going to handle this presidency; and about how
America will handle it.

I hesitated to write more here because I really didn’t know
what to write.

Yet, in this time after Election Day, I have been carefully
documenting every campaign promise that Donald Trump made to the American
people in his remarkable campaign to become the President of the United States
(POTUS). There are well over 200 such promises on record. I have trimmed them
down to nearly 100 promises that he made frequently and, in some sort of words
or ways, guaranteed them.

In the next couple of weeks – and before Inauguration Day –
I will publish those promises here and make some editorial comment about them.
The Trump promises and pledges will be carefully documented (and, believe me,
there are plenty of video recordings of each one of the promises I will post).

The initial blog will be called THE PROMISES HE MADE.

Then, over time, I will follow closely his actions in
office, correlating the promises before the election and the actions of Mr.
Trump after his inauguration.

Stay tuned. I’ll publish the long list of promises just
before Inauguration Day.

And don't forget that I predicted Donald Trumps election 3 days before voting took place. It was that difficult to see it coming.

_________________________________________________

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Monday, November 21, 2016

Look for a
decline in the U.S. economy very shortly after the triumphant inauguration of
Donald Trump!

by Charlie Leck

One of the
things I fear the most as Donald Trump puts together his administration, and
continues to talk to a Republican Congress, is that our economy is going to
tumble early on in Trump’s presidency. Warren Buffet is expressing concerns
about the state of the economy and so are many other well established and
reputable economists and market watchers.

Consider this:
The stock market has risen by significantly more than 200% since Obama took
over as President in 2009. That number is based on U.S. stocks that were traded
on the two most significant markets in the country (NASDAQ and the NY Stock
Exchange). The Standard and Poors 500 has risen more than 180%.

The morning
after the election, sensing a potential decline in the stock market, I wrote to
a number of the charitable organizations to which we have given quite
generously and warned them that we might not be able to be so generous in the
coming years. I couldn’t put numbers to my worry, but I do know that the market
doesn’t not like uncertainty and instability in American politics. In my
November 5 blog, when I predicted Trump’s victory, I also predicted a serious
shakiness in world-wide markets in the coming days.

Now I read that
such carefully watched investors such as Warren Buffett and George Soros are
carefully watching the markets. Several market watchers have reported over the
last few days that Berkshire Hathaway (Buffett’s holding company) has been
shedding American stocks that rely on consumer spending.

The Republican
Congress and Donald Trump are having conversations about a major shake-up in
the size of government. They’ve talked for years about seriously reducing the
number of government employees. Of course, such a reduction will have an impact
on over-all employment numbers and it will, at the same time, reduce the amount
of business the government will do with international suppliers. When the
government employs fewer people it has the natural and expected impact on the
general employment/unemployment in the rest of the nation.

A significant
rise in unemployment impacts shopping and spending – from entertainment to
automobiles and from dining-out to travel.

Under President
Obama the U.S. unemployment rate was reduced significantly and got under 6% in
the last year. It appears that major investing companies are expecting it to
readjust and rise significantly in the next couple of years. It’s quite common
for the rate to do that under a Republican dominated federal government.

The Washington
Post said this morning..

“President-elect
Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress are drawing up plans to
take on government bureaucracy they have long railed against, by eroding job
protections and grinding down benefits that federal workers have received for a
generation.

“Hiring freezes,
an end to automatic raises, a green light to fire poor performers, a ban on
union business on the government’s dime and less generous pensions – these are the
contours of the blueprint emerging under Republican control of Washington in
January.”

This is a common
and frequent idea in the philosophy of Stephen K. Bannon (formerly of Breitbart
News) and now a senior adviser to President-elect Donald Trump.

Many of us will
not be able to spend at the rate we have for the last eight years. Nor will we
be able to be as generous as we have to American charitable organizations. If
thousands and thousands and thousands of individual household managers react
that way, the economy is going to suffer.

If the economy
tanks, hundreds and hundreds of generous foundations are going to take a hard
look at their budgeted giving. Major charitable organizations will find it necessary
to spend far less if the economy shrinks. The housing market will suffer.
School and education spending will be reduced. Non-essentials, such as
entertainment spending, will be examined carefully by each and every family in
the nation. Visitors to food shelves will rise while less money will be given
to these important organizations.

I think the
American voters who led the march to the polls on November 8 are about to get
what they asked for; that is, aid for the very wealthy and an enormous hike in
the unemployment of the lower classes. Oh, boy!

The American
voter has a short memory. He forgot amazingly quickly how damaged our economy
had become between 2000 and 2008. While most of us had far less money to spend,
the federal government was spending furiously on the Military-Industrial
Complex (against which an important and dependable Republican President –
Dwight David Eisenhower – warned us).

____________________________

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Wednesday, November 16, 2016

I was giving thought to discontinuing my blogging here, but
then Donald Trump got me laughing my head off and shaking it in wonder at the
same time. Oh, I can’t stop! That’s what I told myself. This is all just too
much fun and games! At least this part, just before the fall!

by Charlie Leck

When I watch President-Elect Donald Trump trying to become
President Trump, I am struck by how incapable and inane he is. Is it because he
has no background in politics? Neither did Dwight David Eisenhower, who made
the transition to the nation’s top office quite easily. Watching all this
fumbling around helps me understand why Donald Trump was such a terrible
business man who left a trail of broken and maimed companies behind him.

Placing a phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin is
one of the first things Donald Trump did after his election victory. That call
caused an immense amount of confusion and dismay over on Capitol Hill and the
Donald received all kinds of corrective advice about that move. I imagine that
a lot of people in Independent Ukraine wet their pants and panties when they
heard about Donald’s telephone call. Every Baltic nation must be terribly
nervous about what is happening in the U.S.. As well, nearly every European
nation called the White House to find out what was going on. You know, Putin
could play Trump like a Tennessee fiddle.

Then the Trump machine ran a flag up the old flagpole to see
if anyone would salute it when they gave thought to naming Rudi Giuliani to the
Secretary of State position. Again there was coughing, sputtering and gasping on
the Hill. Rudy’s been deeply involved in big time, international consulting
work and has gotten paid big bucks by some major and questionable nations. Sir
Donald backed off on that one.

Another flag was immediately raised when Mr. Trump leaked
the name of John Bolton, former Ambassador to the United Nations, for the
Secretary of State position. Ahem! A few people had to remind Mr. Trump’s
transition team that Bolton had once suggested, in a NY Times column, that we
ought to bomb Iran to stop that nation’s nuclear program. Oops!

Donald has gone through a number of transition leaders
already. The first – NJ Governor Chris Christie – is in big-time trouble for
purposefully impeding traffic trying to get across the George Washington
Bridge. Can you believe it? That one is a real laugher that left Christie with
egg on his face and a dark, dark stain at the bottom of his underwear.

Vice President Elect Pence has now been given the transition
leadership job and he is trying to talk some sense into the Donald and his children
about how the government works. Good luck to Mr. Pence. He’ll have to figure
out how to get the various factions in the Trump organization to stop fighting
about who they want to get these prestigious positions.

You know, he’s made an early mess by naming Chief White
House Advisors, Stephen Bannon (an outrageous right-winger and editor of
Breitbart News) and Reince Priebus, former head of the Republican Party as “co-equal
advisers.” The two are poles apart with very different approaches to politics.
Lots of people are calling for the President Elect to rescind his appointment
of Bannon to such an important position. Mr. Bannon is a darling among White
Nationalists.

Government statistics show a serious rise in hate crimes in
America since Donald Trump heated up in the election process – especially against
Muslim Americans.

A lot of people out here are worried about what Trump will
do about abortion, SCOTUS, the far right, his taxes and his holdings.

Now the frightening idea of a Globalist Cabel has also taken
hold in the public and in the press. Is there some unnamed organization that
has the economy and Donald Trump under its control? Oh, boy!

Evangelical Christian organizations are stepping to the fore
and asking for a piece of the pie. Could that ever spell trouble!

Check out Petula Dvorak’s column in the NY Times. Seems that
decency, humanity and morality have all been tossed out with the bath water! https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/stop-protesting-democracy-saying-notmypresident-is-the-same-as-saying-notmyconstitution/2016/11/14/87728a9a-aa8a-11e6-977a-1030f822fc35_story.html

The tantalizing question is now about the GOP. What is it?
How do you define it?

And, what's the GOP controlled Congress going to do about all
of Donald Trump’s amazing promises?

This much is totally clear – there is no fuzziness about it –
and that is that the nation is now in the hands of and under the control of a
small number of multi-billionaires. Good luck to the old idea of equal
protection.

This proclamation is official: The United States of America
has gotten itself into a big mess! The question many people are raising is: Can
the economy and the economic super-structure handle it?

Oh, Lordsy, have we got a mess on our hands. No wonder the
real president scooted off to Europe to try to calm down some nervous nations.

________________________________

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Saturday, November 12, 2016

I don’t know if America will every
again be regarded as the greatest of all the world’s nations! I don’t even know
if we ever got to that lofty spot. I know that we liked to think so. At the
moment, America is seriously crippled and we have a long way to go to claw our
way to the top again.

by Charlie Leck

On
Saturday, November 5, three days before Election Day, I predicted here that
Donald Trump would likely win the race for the presidency. Believe me, I was very upset about it and
couldn’t understand how it all could have happened; however, when I was convinced
that he was going to win both Florida and Ohio, I saw no other possible result.

If
you look back at the previous blog you will see that I’ve also predicted a
number of tragic results of Trump’s early presidency – among them a possible
impeachment. I urge you to go back and view my predictions.

I
recently read a remarkable essay about the tragedy of this election and I want
to urge you all to read it as well. It is by Neal Gabler.

Gabler
is a senior fellow at The Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern
California. He is also the author of five books and has won book awards from
both the LA Times and Time Magazine. His essay, “Farewell, America” was
published on the Moyers & Company web site:
http://billmoyers.com/story/farewell-america/Here are
some significant quotes from Farewell,
America!

“Whatever
place we now live in is not the same place it was on Nov. 7. No matter how the
rest of the world looked at us on Nov. 7, they will now look at us differently.
We are likely to be a pariah country.… If there is a single sentence that
characterizes the election, it is this: “He says the things I’m thinking.” That
may be what is so terrifying. Who knew that so many tens of millions of white Americans
were thinking unconscionable things about their fellow Americans? Who knew that
tens of millions of white men felt so emasculated by women and challenged by
minorities? Who knew that after years of seeming progress on race and gender,
tens of millions of white Americans lived in seething resentment, waiting for a
demagogue to arrive who would legitimize their worst selves and channel them
into political power? Perhaps we had been living in a fool’s paradise. Now we
aren’t....”

“This
generally has been called the “hate election” because everyone professed to
hate both candidates. It turned out to be the hate election because, and let’s
not mince words, of the hatefulness of the electorate. In the years to come, we
will brace for the violence, the anger, the racism, the misogyny, the
xenophobia, the nativism, the white sense of grievance that will undoubtedly be
unleashed now that we have destroyed the values that have bound us....”

“Democracy
can’t cope with extremism. Only violence and time can defeat it. The first is
unacceptable, the second takes too long. Though Trump is an extremist, I have a
feeling that he will be a very popular president and one likely to be
re-elected by a substantial margin, no matter what he does or fails to do.
That’s because ever since the days of Ronald Reagan, rhetoric has obviated
action, speechifying has superseded governing....”

“But the
disempowered media may have one more role to fill: They must bear witness. Many
years from now, future generations will need to know what happened to us and
how it happened. They will need to know how disgruntled white Americans, full
of self-righteous indignation, found a way to take back a country they felt
they were entitled to and which they believed had been lost. They will need to
know about the ugliness and evil that destroyed us as a nation after great men
like Lincoln and Roosevelt guided us through previous crises and kept our
values intact. They will need to know, and they will need a vigorous, engaged,
moral media to tell them. They will also need us.

We are not
living for ourselves anymore in this country. Now we are living for history.”

That’s tough
stuff to read. I pray that Gabler is incorrect. I pray that I’m incorrect in my
predictions. I am pessimistic, however.

_________________________________

Why not
become a follower? If you read my blog regularly, why not become a follower?
All you have to do is click in the upper right hand corner (Join this Site)
and establish a simple means of communication. Then you'll be informed every
time a new blog is posted here. If all that's confusing, here's Google's
explanation of how to do it! If you don’t want to post comments
on the blog, but would like to communicate with me about it, send me an email if you’d like.

Saturday, November 5, 2016

It
never seemed a real possibility to me until this morning, when I read the major
newspapers carefully, checked into the dependable polling organizations, and
decided to face reality! by Charlie
Leck

It appears to me
that Donald Trump is going to win the current presidential race. To take my
mind off that dangerous and frightening possibility, I took my camera and wandered
around my town on an incredibly beautiful, 70 degree day, and took some
photographs. One is of the small lake that was discovered by white people on
the 4th of July much more than a century ago (therefore named Lake
Independence) even though it had been a favored home site for Native Americans
for many centuries before we came upon it; another is of the old farm silo on
Windsong Farm Golf Club right next to our property. The other two are shots
right here on our own lovely farm. They will allow you a sense of peacefulness and beauty

before you advance to my frightening and ugly predictions.

Trump is geared up to win in Florida and
Ohio!
Frightening! I wrote here a couple of weeks ago that the candidate who could
grab both Florida and Ohio would be the winner.

This is how I see the next several years in
America…
No more prognosticating from me about the 2016 presidential race. Now I’ll turn
instead to guessing just what might happen to Donald Trump, to our nation and
to the world in the next couple of years. He’s going to be very sorry that he
ran for president for the following reasons.

One:
The job is too big for him. He is not bright enough to handle it. He hasn’t the
psychological fortitude or the patience to be the leader of the free world. His
ties to Russia’s Putin are too strong and tight! He will make many and enormous
mistakes.

Two:
The American economy will tank. All the amazing gains under the Obama
administration will disappear. Jobs will be lost and, therefore, unemployment
will rise to levels we haven’t seen in 50 or 60 years. The stock market will
take a major hit and the American economy will falter badly.

Three:
The United States Congress will be in total disarray. Both parties will be
stalled and unable to restart their engines. The problem will be so serious
that Democrats and Republicans will seek ways to cooperate in order to save the
nation from chaos.

Four:
Mr. Trump will face major criminal charges for improper sexual activities (some
of them very serious) and he will also face severe criminal charges related to
his family foundation. America’s major newspapers will continue to report
freely and vigorously about his unethical practices in both his businesses and
his personal life. It will force the congress to seriously look at the
possibility of impeaching him.

Five:
Contrary to his great boast, America will be viewed far differently around the
world than it is today. We will no longer be regarded as a great nation, but, instead,
as a nation in great disarray and with little influence on national issues.

Six:
The ecological and climate advances we’ve made over the last decade and the
goals we’ve set for ourselves in the future will stall out. There will be
international panic over the lack of leadership in these important areas.

Seven:
Mr. Trump will be aghast at the esteem in which Hillary Clinton will be held
over the coming decade. It will be recognized that she was and is not guilty of
any crimes whatsoever. Her tenure both in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. State
Department will be recognized as important periods in our nation’s history.

Eight:
China and Russia will each makes moves on other nations and international
territories and attempt to declare authority and ownership over them!

Nine:
The world economy will be shaken vigorously and dangerously during the first
two years of Mr. Trump’s presidency. International poverty will increase and there
will be serious rebellions and revolutions in several nations.

Ten:
World-wide financial corruption will increase to levels we never dreamed
possible. Our nation will be called upon to meet demands for aide to which we
will not be able to respond because of our weakened financial condition.

Eleven:
No wall will be built along the southern border of the United States of
America; however, the movement of people from the south into the United States
will slow to a trickle because our nation will not be an attractive place to
live – not at all great again!

Twelve:
The Republican Party, in an attempt to save itself, will disavow any connection
to Donald Trump; and the Grand Old Party will scramble to rebuild itself into
an important political force again.

Enough! It is
all too frightening and, for the sake of my grandchildren, I pray that I am
mistaken about each and every one of the predictions above.

Goodnight!

As soon as the novelty is over and the force of contrast dulled,it ain't happiness any longer, and you have to get something fresh.Mark Twain - Captain. Stormfield's Visit to Heaven

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Thursday, October 27, 2016

There are all kinds of reasons not to vote for Donald Trump
and here are a few of the important ones!
by Charlie Leck

Here’s the biggest reason (and its ramifications) not to
vote for Donald Trump: He doesn’t understand how American democracy works. Dozens
of leading political experts were shocked at Trump’s unwillingness to state
that he would accept a Hillary Clinton victory if she wins the
election that is only a bit more than a week away. It’s unheard of. Accepting such
defeats and wishing the victor good success has been a tradition in America for
a long, long time.

Instead, Mr.Trump is encouraging chaos and protest if Mrs.
Clinton wins! As a result, supporters of Mr. Trump are warning of an American
revolution if their candidate loses.

Mr. Trump is also encouraging followers to be at polling
sites to watch for phony voters. Government institutions already have poll
watchers and a number of ways to check for fraudulent voting. The U.S. voting
system protects against fraud and there are only a few small cases of
fraudulent voting over the last several decades. Actually, the system
discourages undesignated poll watchers because they might intimidate people
from entering polling places.

Mr. Trump does not really understand how democracy works and
he doesn’t understand that our nation is really a republic more so than a
democracy. Trump has had a hard time understanding the sophisticated and subtle
differences between the two.

The tactics and off-handed threats that Mr. Trump has been
issuing in the last week are both unprecedented and unpresidential.

Final, the continued coziness of Donald Trump and Vladimir
Putin is frightening. Putin has been unquestionably messing in America’s
political campaigns and voting procedures. Mr. Trump continues to heap praises
on this man who would like nothing more than to see the American way and the
American system trashed and ruined. I don’t understand why so many of Mr. Trump’s
followers cannot see the danger of this cozy relationship.

_____________________________

I’ll probably write only one more time before Election Day, looking at the likely results of the Democrats regaining control of the Senate; and then one other time after the results of the election are clear. Then I’ll retire
again and continue to put my writing skills to work on some private pieces I am
trying to publish.

_____________________________________

Why not become a follower? If you read my blog
regularly, why not become a follower? All you have to do is click in the upper
right hand corner (Join this Site) and establish a simple means of communication.
Then you'll be informed every time a new blog is posted here. If all that's
confusing, here's
Google's explanation of how to do it! If you don’t want to post comments on the
blog, but would like to communicate with me about it, send me an email if you’d like.

About Me

I write these blogs to leave behind a full picture of me for my grandchildren. I had no such snapshot of my own grandparents and what they believed and how they thought. Ad Astra, you probably know, is Latin for To the Stars. Without being literal about it, it's my final destination (where I "shall forever sit, triumphing over death, and chance, and Thee, O Time").